Longmont's eastern gateway getting a makeover

This artist's rendering shows a view of 1600 Ironhorse at Mill Village looking to the southeast from near the intersection of Third Avenue and Colo. Highway 119. The clubhouse and 40-foot-tall replica of a water tower are shown in the foreground. The swimming pool is visible between the two. (Courtesy MBR Studios)

LONGMONT -- Where rabbits once ran, there will be apartments.

Developers broke ground this week on 1600 Ironhorse at Mill Village, a 220-unit apartment complex near where Colo. Highway 119 meets Third Avenue and the Ken Pratt Boulevard Extension.

About 20 years ago, Roger Pomainville bought 60 acres of land at what was then the intersection of Third Avenue and Colo. 119, where nothing but cornstalks stood. The Longmont native recalls hunting there when he was a kid. A feed lot sat across the street, where Fox Hill Country Club is today.

Roger Pomainville, left, and Wendell Picket are building 1600 Ironhorse at Mill Village, a 220-unit apartment complex in the Mill Village neighborhood, near Third Avenue and Colo. Highway 119. (Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)
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LEWIS GEYER
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Over the years, Aspen Gold Development Co., Pomainville's company, built up the infrastructure, then sold off much of the land to developers, who built some 400 homes and townhomes that make up the Mill Village neighborhood. In 2000, Pomainville built the Mill Village Business Park, a 45,000-square-foot building that is home to both office and retail tenants.

His plan at the time was to develop the remaining 9.4 acres commercially. Being next to a four-way intersection is a prime spot for retail.

But things changed. By 2003, the Ken Pratt Boulevard extension was complete, creating a complete realignment of the intersection. Gone was the clean four-way stop.

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The site was idle until the economy started to come back about three years ago. Pomainville and Wendell Pickett of Frontier Companies -- a longtime partner with Pomainville -- began talking about building an apartment complex there.

Pomainville's company bought Ute Creek Apartments in 2000, a year after they were built, and saw how successful they had been: that complex has had 100 percent occupancy for the past three years, he said.

Apartment vacancy rates throughout the Denver Metro region have plummeted in recent years. According to the Colorado Division of Housing, the vacancy rate in the second quarter was 4.2 percent, the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2000. In Longmont, the second-quarter vacancy rate was 3.6 percent, up from the 2.2 percent of the same quarter last year but still near a historically low rate.

The timing seemed perfect. But first the developers had to get approval from the Longmont City Council to change the zoning. That process was a struggle, but council finally approved the change in January 2012.

"We had a fair amount of opposition initially," Pickett said.

Neighbors were concerned about preserving their view of the mountains and the lack of access to nearby schools and public transportation. Some also felt an apartment complex would ruin the character of the Mill Village neighborhood.

Working with the existing neighborhood and city officials, he and Pomainville feel like they've addressed most of those concerns, Pickett said, even if everyone is not completely satisfied.

"We actually shifted the entire project north of its original footprint," he said.

They added a 30-foot green buffer on the north side of Kylie Drive. Beyond that will sit the 10 two-bedroom townhomes that were later added to the project. They also altered the orientation of some buildings to maintain view corridors, and they're building 220 units, versus the 280 that the site would allow, the developers said.

Once City Council gave its blessing to the zoning change, FirstBank of Longmont put up a $22.1 million construction loan and Signature Partners, a private firm Pickett has worked with before, put up the final $11.9 million for the $34 million complex.

1600 Ironhorse at Mill Village is the largest apartment complex to be built in Longmont since the 434-unit Grandview Meadows was approved in southwest Longmont more than 10 years ago. Parts of it are still being built.

And now that ground is finally broken, the Mill Village apartments are on the fast track: Units in the first buildings -- those being built north of Iron Horse Drive -- will be ready for lease by May, and the entire project is scheduled for completion in 14 months.

Being built first, however, is the 4,200-square-foot clubhouse, which will be designed to look like an old mill. It's meant to play into the look of the nearby Great Western Sugar Factory, much like The Cannery does, another project Pomainville worked on.

Near the clubhouse will be a 40-foot replica of a water tower that will serve as the project's signature landmark.

"No. 1, it serves as the pool equipment room," said Pickett. "Two, we were trying to preserve and tie in with the history of Longmont."

Other amenities will include a large swimming pool, a dog park and other open space and many "green" features throughout each unit.

The point was to create something that will be a quality -- and affordable -- addition to the city's eastern gateway, Pomainville said.

Rents will range from $1,025 for a one-bedroom, $1,295 for a two-bedroom and $1,395 for the two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath townhome units.

"Our market study shows that 70 percent of the people in Longmont can afford to live here, and that was really important to me," Pomainville said.

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